Improving your living environment: 4 other HDB upgrading programmes to know

SINGAPORE – Since the implementation of the Lift Upgrading Programme in 2001, the Housing Board has rolled out a number of initiatives to improve and rejuvenate HDB flats and estates. The latest initiative is the Facade Enhancement Programme launched in March, which addresses building facade wear and tear due to ageing and intense weather conditions resulting from climate change.

More than 4,000 HDB blocks islandwide are expected to benefit from this new $338 million programme, which will run until March 2029. While the locations of the 4,000 HDB blocks are still unclear, the Ministry of National Development and HDB said these will be older buildings across Singapore. The brick cladding and metal fixtures on the facade of HDB blocks will be repaired and enhanced under the programme. Today, there are more than 10,000 HDB blocks islandwide, with the oldest blocks in Stirling Road in Queenstown built more than 60 years ago.

Introduced in 2001, the Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) aims to upgrade lift services to ensure direct access on every floor where feasible. At the start of the programme, there were more than 5,300 HDB blocks without full lift access on every floor. This meant that residents whose flats were between floors where the lifts were located had to climb some stairs. Among them, more than 1,000 blocks were initially found to be unfeasible for the LUP due to cost or technical constraints.